I had every intention of going to the gym yesterday morning, but my body was like “um, hello? you are 43 years old and you can’t work out an hour and 45 minutes the day before and expect to get up today.” I wasn’t sore at all, I just think with working out before work, working, biking at lunch, working, then going out to eat – it was a long and busy day and my body decided to sleep in. š
Breakfast was quick – work was crazy busy, but not the fulfilling, check off the list busy. I have too many balls in the air and felt like I didn’t accomplish anything. Oh well, the day went by fast. š
Breakfast was an egg sammie and a giant cup of watermelon. 7 PointsPlus.
I think most Chicagoans will agree with me that we had a really shitty, long winter, followed by no spring and then yesterday, at 12:30 before I was about to bike ride, I check weather.com and it said “actual temperature 98 degrees, feels like 105.” Um, no thanks! I even tried to walk outside, but the humidity alone was too much.
I ate lunch at my desk before going out. Remember the smoked pork roast Tony made over the weekend? I picked off all the meat, cut out most of the fat, and then made pork bbq out of it – which Tony hates. I put the chopped pork in a pot with apple cider vinegar, Tabasco and crushed red pepper flakes. And this time decided to add spicy beer mustard to the mix. So good! I made pork bbq lettuce wraps with fresh strawberries on the side – lunch comes in at 8 PointsPlus.
Instead of working through lunch, I have been desperately trying to find spring roll wrappers. I’ve complained about not finding them for so long, Tony was actually going to order then online just to shut me up. So I googled “oriental grocery store” and found one 2.5 miles from my office!
I didn’t have a camera with me, but Sophia and Maggie would have loved this place. Kimchi, hot sauces, kobacha, soba noodles – I could have spent my whole lunch hour walking around! But most importantly, I found the wrappers – and a steal – each package has about 30 wraps in it, and one was $1.69 and one was $1.39 – score!
Check out these spring rolls – can’t wait for all the possibilities. Have you made homemade springrolls?
Some other loot I got:
Can’t wait to spicy up some dishes with that stuff – or maybe add it to the base of soup for a spicy broth?
I love that these soba noodles cook up in about 3 minutes. I think they may be part of my lunch today – not sure how yet though. š
And finally I found sliced lotus roots that were packaged in water in the refrigerator section. I never even knew what a lotus root was until I went to a sushi restaurant with Tony, and most plates were garnished with pickled lotus roots, which I love. I bought the package thinking I could make more veggie chips with them.
Because they were packed in water, I drained them well, and dried them. I heated my deep fryer to 350, and just like the yucca chips I made over the weekend, fried them in batches just until they started to get slightly browned, then threw them all in again for about 2-3 minutes to crisp them up – drain on paper towels and salt immediately.
That’s how they looked right out of the package. When fried, they don’t get as browned as the yucca root so be careful not to overcook them.
The verdict? I loved them, and Tony thought they tasted like ass. So they are all mine! š I need to figure out a spicy dipping sauce to dip them in. Also, 1/2 a cup of lotus root is only 40 calories, 2 fiber and 10 carbs -1 point, so I am calling these chips 2 points for 1/2 a cup. š
Dinner was easy – our local grocery store has marinated pork taco meat that is out of this world flavorful. And while we’ve gotten it before, this batch was particularly spicy, which was almost a bit much for Tony. I had two tostadas, 4 ounces of pork, 1/2 ounce of cheese, two tablespoons guacamole, and purple cabbage with hot sauce on top. These come in at 11 PointsPlus.
Tony and I watched a bunch of stuff on the DVR. However, he is a bit saddened that these shows are on the list of things to watch: Extreme Body Makeover (which replaces Biggest Loser); MasterChef; Diners, Drive-ins and Dives; Chopped (although he likes that show). Now if I could only find a fat people show where they would cook on the show – that would be the best reality show for me to watch!
Stats for Tuesday:
- 29 points (including all the lotus chips I ate!)
- no exercise, hopefully it won’t be as hot today
- average blood sugar 119
Alright, off to figure out how to make my lunch using soba noodles. Also, did anyone go to a WW meeting last week? The handout had a recipe for a quinoa salad with orange marmalade, and I can’t find it and couldn’t find it online – if you have the recipe can you let me know? I wanted to make it for one of my lunches this week with shrimp.
Make it a great day!
Love your site and recipes…..thank you
Thank you!!
Aren’t Asian markets a blast?? Do they have a ton of samplers at the one you go to? The one we frequent in Jersey has samplers in almost every aisle! try before you buy! I like those lotus chips too…I bought some snacks for the kids and brought them home…the ENTIRE package is in Korean…so I have absolutely NO IDEA what they are…but they were tasty, so I bought them. My SIL taught me how to make Korean sushi ( Kim-pop) and I have the stuff to make them….just need the time to get it done…then I am blogging it! š
What a great ride…..I would soooo need that gel seat too! lol
I’ve been lazy w the gym this week, too. I just can’t seem to get motivated!
You got so many fun goodies from the Asian store! Those lotus chips are soo pretty. Fun idea!
I LOVE gochujang and add it to pretty much everything… š
I miss spring. Like a lot. This whole 95 degree thing we have going on is not cool!
I’d eat your bbq pork or pork tostadas anytime!
Haha, you are right, and I love lotus root! I need to try frying them. I don’t have a deep fryer but I’m sure i can cook them up in the stove with some oil and salt and they would be delicious.
I have made some spring rolls and my own egg rolls, of course I baked my egg rolls instead of frying them but they were delicious! I have never had lotus or lotus chips. I am learning so much from your blog about new foods. I only made soba noodles one time and we discovered our daughter is very allergic to them so I can’t even have them in the house!
I’m with Tony, yucca is not my friend. I’ve tried to give it a chance, but I’m over it now. š
Those lotus chips look so pretty! You try the most interesting foods!
Andy and I are way into Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Alton Brown, Top Chef and allof the food challenge shows. I always get hungry and want to eat crap after watching them however!
Lotus root is seriously sooo pretty!
Those are the wrappers that my mom always bought. They’re the “good” ones as she calls them. š
It’s a rainy mess here, but weather.com keeps saying that it will clear up. š
I hope they turn out for me – I am going to try some stuff over the weekend – glad your Momma would approve š
I need some soba noodles in my life. I’ve been seeing them a lot lately but have never tried them.
I’m still sweating your breakfast sammie – drool….
It’s hot as hell here today – I think your heat & humidity is making it’s way to the East coast. I’m staying in with the AC today – unless we decide to move the office out to someone’s pool? š
I prefer a spring roll over an egg roll anyday! Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
“these taste like ass.” haha I’ve heard austin say that a time or two as well, especially with any kind of soy substitute or “veggie chips” – lol.
Your description of the weather is exactly why my husband refuses to move there even though I’d love to!
SO cool that you have an Asian market that close to work! I bet you can find all sorts of fun stuff there. The pulled meat looks like it turned out perfect! That is one of Josh’s favorite meals. I must admit, I with Tony on the yucca…ick! But I’m glad you are enjoying the chips- so fun. Hope the DVR catch up was enjoyable
I’ve never made spring/summer rolls, but I love to eat them!
Except for Diners, I’ve got them all recorded too! My boys like to watch the cooking competitions with me:)
Your lotus chips look like something you’d get at a carnival! Sprinkle some powdered sugar on them š
This is a new comment-er thing isn’t it? I like it
I love it too! I just noticed it yesterday. š
This should be the recipe you are talking about!
http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=146871
Thanks Rachel!! That’s the one! Hope you wave hello when you fly through Chicago! š
I totally agree! We need a fat people cooking show! I would totally watch that!
I completely agree about the complete lack of spring, same thing here in Minnesota. Crappiest spring in the world and then 101 degrees yesterday.
I’m so glad you found the wrappers. You are going to enjoy playing around with them. I can’t wait to see what you will come up with besides the spring rolls. I make spring rolls and we absolutely love them. Thank you for the reminder because they will be perfect for the hot weather we have in our future. I can’t wait to try that chili sauce recipe to go with them too. Have a wonderful day! Candace